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Journey for the Sunstone
Journey for the Sunstone is a sidequest for the character Phoenix Zuchrud. The quest follows a party of five under the Sunridge Peaks to find the source of the never-ending winter plaguing the typically lush cliffs as well as the town within and bring back summer to the region. It was started in June 2019. Characters Playable Character * Phoenix Zuchrud Non-Playable Characters * Olotoris Umehorn * Ravasatra Daecaryn * Varic Daecaryn * Zylstina Lorazumin * Prince Bjorke of the Frost Giants Plot The quest opens up with Phoenix Zuchrud traveling through the mountain ranges of Testa, having first left home in search of adventure. Her travels have brought her to the edge of the mainland, where she aims to climb to the top of the Sunridge Peaks. At the base of the peaks, she finds a set of stairs carved into the stone and leading up into the cliffs. Curiously, she climbs up them and discovers a rocky plateau with a cave mouth at the bottom of it. In walking towards the cave, Phoenix steps into the center of the plateau, and immediately a pattern begins to glow through the snow. Immediately after, the ground begins to rumble a bit and Phoenix is filled with a warm feeling. However, all at once it stops and Phoenix is left standing alone on the cold plateau. Before she can step towards the cliff though, a rope is suddenly thrown over the edge of the cliff the cave opens into. Drawn by curiosity, Phoenix climbs up the rope to the top of the cliff and immediately discovers four elves standing at the top: three sun elves and one moon elf. The elves were clearly arguing before she got there, but as soon as Phoenix is in sight, they all stop. One of them, a female with red hair drawn into a thick braid with freckles, steps forward with her sword and questions Phoenix's identity. This attempt to establish authority, however, is ultimately usurped when another elf mocks her for her blatant attempt and the two descend into bickering. As they argue, it is revealed that the boy's name is Varic and the girl is named Ravasatra, and they are, in fact, twins. Later on, the other sun elf is introduced to be Zylstina, and the moon elf, Olotoris. When Phoenix is questioned about her purpose here, Ravasatra immediately becomes suspicious and threatens to push Phoenix off of the cliff. However, Zylstina then pipes up and says that Phoenix was the one who activated the symbol, which was apparently what the shaking sensation was. As it turns out, the symbol Phoenix woke up was the symbol of Soliel, God of the Sun. Zylstina goes on to explain that they were looking for the symbol, and she and Varic explain why they were out there. As it turns out, the four elves came from a place called the Bronze Ember Folk, a developed sun elf tribe that still held fast to their old ways. They had been sent out because an unnatural winter had settled over the land for the past few months, and many believed it was because something was happening to the sunstone; a sacred jewel present in many sun elf beliefs. Phoenix mentions a strange cave she saw below, with the entrance marked by the strange sun symbol on the plateau. It's then decided to venture into these caves, which seems to be where the issues are rooting from. Traveling into the cave, the party faces a variety of issues. Upon their first day, they're forced to fight a wave of the wretched, which nearly kills them. On the second day, they cross over crags in rocks and forced to cross the web of a giant spider. On the third day, they come across a large lake separating them from the rest of the tunnel, which Zylstina helps them cross by casting animal friendship on one of the sea creatures. Finally, the party came across a large opening in the rock, guarded by two ogres. Through a bit of easy manipulation, the guards reveal that they are guarding a mining site for Prince Bjorke of the frost giants. The party manages to get past by letting slip the fact that Varic is nobility, and saying that they are coming as the entertainment for Prince Bjorke. The guards let them through, the party steps out into a large mining chamber, headed by a prince of the frost giants, Prince Bjorke himself. The mining site is filled with other frost giants, as well as stone giants, mountain giants, and dwarves. When Prince Bjorke asked the party what they were doing, Phoenix came forth and said that they were the entertainers, pulling forth Olotoris as her assistant. Prince Bjorke believes this, and thus sends them to their own chambers to wait out their cue to perform for him during dinner.